Diverse patterns of smaller scale rural mechanisation and sustainable rural development

Stephen Biggs1

Scott Justice2

1 Independent Researcher 2 CIMMYT Nepal

Presentation at the workshop on Mechanisation and agricultural transformation in Asia and Africa: Sharing Development Experiences. June 18-9, 2014. Beijing, China. Sponsored by the International

Food Policy Institute (IFPRI) and the National School of Development.

Introduction: Personal and reflective history by the authors

• Biggs- Involvement in rural mechanisation policy and practice, and agricultural economic modeling. This has been mainly in Bangladesh, Nepal and the Gangetic plains (terai) region of India. Since the late 1960s

• Justice- Similar professional involvement since early 1990s

Introduction (continued) Definition: What do we include under Small Scale

Rural Mechanisation

• Covers electric motors and diesel engines, micro hydro, solar, etc. in rural areas for all sectors:– Agriculture– Forestry– Fisheries– Transport– Processing

Introduction (continued) Argument of the presentation

• 1960s-1970s: Open western public policy debates on agricultural and rural mechanisation

• 1980-2000: – Closing down of rural and agricultural mechanisation debates

• Academic policy debates• Engineering R&D institutions, • National and international data collection and analysis

– Advocacy of Washington Consensus policies – “Silent” and “hidden” spread of small scale engines, machines and equipment

in rural areas in many countries of South and East Asia– Spread of service markets in rural areas

• Mid 2000s: Crises in food security, energy, financial markets, land grabs, labor shortages. Implications of migrant economies– Growth of diverse discourses on ag and rural mechansation (Econ, Nat Geo)

• 2014: Need to re-open and re-structuring of national and international rural mechanisation policy debates

What are we talking about?

• 2-wheel tractors and attachments

BangladeshChina

What are we talking about?

• 2-wheel tractors and attachments

Trail 5- ton trailer, Bangladesh

What are we talking about?(continued)

• Shallow tube wells, low lift pumps layflat pipe-Bangladesh

What are we talking about?(continued)

• Threshers and single cylinder diesel engine on bullock cart Nepal

What are we talking about?(continued)

• Engines on boats- Thailand

What are we talking about?(continued)

• Micro hydro Nepal simple Pelton turbine 2 kilowatt

What are we talking about?(continued)

• Mobile phone

What are we talking about?(continued)

• Solar panels

What are we talking about?(continued)

• Axil flow pump-Cambodia

History of Themes in Western Policy Debates and Rural Mechanisation

1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020

Opening debates local / national/regional

Closing of Rural Mechanisation Policy Debate

Reopening due to multiple crises

Themes of Western Development Policy 1960s to 1980s

• Open policy debates on National/regional/Local development– National/Regional development plans (Leontief Input output tables)– Integrated Rural Development Programmes (IRDPs)– Green Revolution (dominated by plant breeding concerns)– Intermediate/Alternative/Appropriate Technology projects– Rural Works Programmes for infrastructure development– Strong economic/social science presence in international agricultural policy debates and

in most CGIAR International Agricultural Research Centres

• Agrarian Structure Debates – Size of holding ,– Distributive land reforms, institutional reforms of semi feudal rural relationships. – Political economy of agrarian change. – Gender analysis (displacement of women from household processing of food,

employment implication of combines, etc.)– Small Farmer development Agency (loans for small equipment)

• Rural Mechanisation Debates Partial economic analysis bullocks vs 4WTs , rural employment analysis (+ or – combines, women’s displacement-rice processing), economic and social benefit cost analysis, de-regulation policies, small/medium rural industries.

Themes of Western Development Policy 1980s to Late 2000s

• Closing of Rural Mechanisation Policy Debates – Reviews/evaluations of past policy interventions showed

difficulties of “implementing” equitable rural development interventions

– Micro credit promotion (but not for smaller equipment)– General Closing down of Ag/ Rural Mechanization R&D– Closing down of data collection and analysis on rural mech.– Narrowing of “Green Revolution” analysis to the Punjab Plant

breeding /4 wheel tractor/combine harvest model– Agrarian structure debates declined– Small scale rural industries research declined

Themes of Western Development Policy 1980s to Late 2000s

• Global Crisis: Forcing open rural mechanisation debates– Crisis in financial markets – Energy price rise – Food shortages– Land grabs– Continued rural unemployment, rural poverty, malnutrition, and rise in

inequality in many countries– Increasing migrant labour economies– Rise in advocacy of large scale industrial agriculture.– International assessment of food/agriculture concentrated on global

aggregate total supplies and demand in the future; with little reference to reasons for current and growing inequalities (such as high levels of child malnutrition in food surplus countries) and to agrarian/rural structural considerations. An d concentration of ownership of land farm equipment in some regions

BUT: Many diverse patterns of rural development and mechanisation taking

place in South and East Asia

• While the international debates were closing down, there were many Green Revolutions taking place in South Asia, with the major spread of smaller scale equipment in some South and East Asian countries

• Long history, great diversity and huge numbers

Timeline Spread Smaller Rural Machinery

Tech Country 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

Nepal

4WT2WT

Small EnginesThreshers

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------50% sales for transport------------ Japanese KTM & Pokhara—Korean--Chinese--------------------------------------Chinese spread to the terai and hills

Small hp Indian irrigation pumpsets --------------------------------------------------------------------------Chinese diesel pumpsets

Wheat threshers---------------------------------------------------------starting rice threshers-----------

Viet nam

Small Engines Small USA engines pumps and long tail boats --------------------Switch to Chinese Engines ----------------------------------------------------------------

Bangla desh

4WT2WT

Small EnginesThreshers

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------large% sales for transport--- Japanese------------------------------------------- Chinese only-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mainly Indian/Japanese irrigation pumpsets -----------Rapid expansion of Chinese engines for pumps boats etc-------------------------

Wheat threshers---------------------------------------------------------and then Rice Threshers-------

India

4WT2WT

Small EnginesThreshers

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Japanese-Indian--------------------------------------------------------------------- Chinese --------------------------------------------Indian/ Listeroid --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Expansion of Chinese engines--------------- Wheat threshers-----------------------------------------------------------------and then Rice Threshers-PTO Driven-------------------------------

Sri Lanka

4WT2WT

Small Engines

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sri Lankan Designed British Made------- Chinese----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ?-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Chinese diesel for pumpsets/threshers--------------------------------

Thai Land

4WT2WT

Small EnginesThreshers

-------------------------------------------------------------------------Imports of Japanese used --------Japanese brand manufacturing------------------------------------Thai developed with Japanese Engines only-----------Japanese Engines licensed manufacturing in Thailand-------------------------------------------?American? ---------LT Boats----------------Japanese-----------Centrifugal and axial flow pumps------------------------------------------------------------------------------------IRRI axial flow manufactured----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Diverse patterns- Illustration of size and type of power sources

Bangladesh India NepalEnergy Source

No Units Total hp

% of total hp

No. units Total hp% of total hp

No. units Total hp % of total

hp

2WTs* 500,000 7,500,000 53% 300,000 4,500,000 B 16,000 240,000 13%

4Wts** 35,000 460,000 3% 3,500,000 122,500,000 55% 30,000 900,000 51%

Irrigation shallow tube

well pump Diesel ***

1.2 M 6,000,000 42% 9,000,000 45,000,000 20% 120,000 600,000 34%

Irrigation pumpsets

Electric****100,000 200,000 1% 12,000,000 48,000,000 21% 10,000 40,000 2%

Total 14,160,000 100% 220,000,000

100% 1,780,000 100%

Estimates of the numbers of power sources (and their horsepower ratings) used primarily in agricultural and processing uses, including groundwater irrigation pumps. It does not for example include the many engines used in Bangladesh to power riverboats, rice mills, processing, etc, although these are a major part of the Bangladesh agriculture and rural economy * Average of 14 hp per 2-wheel tractors (2WT ** Average of 30 hp per 4-wheel tractor *** Diesel / petrol irrigation pumpsets are average 5 hp. 5 – 10 % of the pumpsets are petrol/kerosene **** Average electric tubewell is 4 HP

General Observations 1

• Long histories of substantial smaller scale rural mechanisation (E.g. Vietnam, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Thailand)

• Diverse patterns of rural mechanisation o mixed sources of engines, o different sequences in the mechanisation of

different operations, o different patterns of larger and smaller scale

mechanisation• Major public involvement- but diverse

General Observations 2• Multiple uses of smaller engines for a wide range of

operations: o transport (river & road) o water pumping, o threshing, milling, hulling, processing

• Multiple market institutions for ownership and the buying and selling of engine services (E.g. tillage, transport (boats and roads), water pumping.

• Many stong backward and forward rural growth linkages

General Observations 3• "Good enough" Chinese single cylinder

lightweight, diesel engines are an important part of the many stories.

• Ownership by rural entrepreneurs- rather than by "small, independent, subsistence, and self reliant farmers"

• Energy policy has been a central component (availability and prices of electricity and fossil fuels),

• Agrarian/rural structure always important

Current Challenge

• There are many discourses relating to process of rural mechanisation

• Yet very few rural machanisation policy debates

Illustration of the Biases and Problems in the Current Discourses Concerning Rural

Mechanisation

• Problem of only recently discovering the “silent” new” “”quiet” and diverse green revolutions using small scale rural and agricultural machinery– Why were they not observed and documented

earlier? – Why was even existing literature (David Biggs-2005,

Randy Barker-1990s, etc) not mainstreamed into economic development debates

Illustration of the Biases and Problems in the Current Discourses on Rural Mechanisation

(continued)

• Many GR narratives become a plant breeders success story --- even when rural mechanisation and government price policies created the technical and economic conditions

Illustration of the Biases and Problems in the Current Discourses on Rural Mechanisation

(continued)

• Promotional literature and activities of large MNC agro-machinery companies

• Promotion of business as usual– Plant sciences new green revolution (economist)– Rather than an energy based new “Green

Revolution” (Mazzucato)

Illustration of the Biases and Problems in the Current Discourses on Rural Mechanisation

(continued)

(Mis-)Characterization of the “Small Farm” Sector– Small farms are stand alone, isolated economic

units (in fact often integrated into local service markets and even international export markets)

– Fragmented/small holdings are inefficient and need consolidating for ag production intensification “…one day land consolidation will doubtless be needed “ (The Economist, May 10, 2014)

Biases and Problems in the Current Discourses on Rural Mechanisation

(continued)

• Small scale equipment is “Appropriate” technology from “idealistic “ NGOs, but has been shown not to be relevant to todays global food problems.

Biases and Problems in the Current Public and Policy Discourses on Rural

Mechanisation(continued)

• Minimalisation of the energy and environmental costs of some earlier and some current large scale “Green Revolutions”

• Ladders, stages and linear approaches to technology development in agricultural / rural engineering

• Lack of engagement of rural engineering expertise with the global debates and “documentation” on food, rural employment policy discourses (WB Report 2007, IASTAD 2007, UK Foresight Report 2011, Hungry for Land GRAIN, 2014).

Way Forward: Reopening and Reframing of Rural Mechanisation Policy Debates and Practice

Considerations:• Locally specific national policy analysis • Reintroduction of Rural Development as a goal (equitable economic

growth, rural employment, inequality reduction) in economic policy• Rationalize agriculture/rural economic development within national

energy and industrialization policies • Survey and other data collection methods for engineers/economist

and other social scientists. Including cost effective methods for monitoring contemporary change. For example, the spread of 2-wheel tractors and the nature of markets in services.

• Curriculum of Engineering Department to include substantial field and workshop experience – not just theoretical modeling.

Way Forward: Reopening and Reframing of Rural Mechanisation Policy Debates

(continued)

Considerations:• Need for historical/innovation studies of public and private roles in

the spread of small engines, motors and machinery technologies • Skepticism concerning the speculative claims of those promoting

general agricultural/rural mechanisation• Recognition and capitalization of technical and institutional

innovations coming from artisanal / informal R&D • Restructuring of rural and agricultural mechanisation debates in the

context of macro intermediate / capital goods industrial policy • Public sector support for information and credit for small scale rural

equipment to poorer rural entrepreneurs

Conclusion

Time for rural engineering and mechanisation issues to come to the front of the rural development stage.

ReferencesNational Mechanisation Reports. Webpage of the UN’s Center for Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization (www.UNCSAM.org/countrystudies ) Mechanization for Rural Development: A review of patterns and progress from around the world 2013 Kienzle, Josef , John E. Ashburner , Brian G. Sims Eds. Integrated Crop Management Vol . 20-2013. Plant Production and Protection Division Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) United Nations, Rome.Mazzucato, Mariana, 2013. The entrepreneurial state: debunking private vs. public sector myths. London: Anthem.The Economist. May 10th 2014 A bigger rice bowl: Another green revolution is stirring in the world’s paddy fieldshttp://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21601815-another-green-revolution-stirring-worlds-paddy-fields-bigger-rice-bowlNational Geographic – Feeding the World (May 2014)